The Choices We Make
by K-Quinn
Summary: There is always a choice, there is always a path to be chosen and a decision to be made. Loki thought he had made his choice long ago, his path set and fortune told... Although Norse mythology has been known to get it wrong, that much Frigga knows for certain. So, where does an intern come into it?
1. Chapter 1

_A.N. Hola. Decided, quite suddenly, that I was going to start a new fic. I started this morning and have now completed 3 chapters, I'd like to dedicate this to coffee. Thanks man, I owe you one. Hope you enjoy, any mistakes are mine and mine alone. _

**The Choices We Make**

He could remember a time with Mother, a time when Frigga was _Mother_ and Odin was_ Father_ and he was there son. When there had been no doubt in his mind about who he was or what. When he had been content, lonely - oh, forever lonely - but content.

When she had nursed his bloodied knee with a tender hand and nothing but concern in her eyes. Both of them listening to Thor as he shouted and whined in the next room, as Father had finally barked 'Enough!' and given his punishment. When his looming figure had appeared in the doorway, arms crossed tightly and a harshness in his gaze that had left Loki in a puddle of both fear and resentment.

He knew his Father would come to the conclusion that he was to blame, his youngest with the naughty twinkle in his eye. Thor would weave his tale of his wicked brother and his magics, how Loki had tricked him into one of his schemes. Loki looked to the ground, hand shaking upon the wooden chair below him as he tried to keep his face blank of emotion.

His Mother had turned sharply, a soft and warm hand resting reassuringly below his injured knee. The two stared at each other wordlessly for a few moments as Loki chanced a look between the two, watching as Father lifted one greying eyebrow in question and stepped forward with intent.

"I will deal with Loki, dear," she had said, anger directed not at Odin, but at the boy in question. The hand on his leg squeezed gently just as confusion wrinkled the black haired boy's brow. Ah, his Mother was too clever sometimes. "Thor?" she questioned after a beat. Odin sighed, a hand rubbed his beard in a tired manner.

"Clearing the mess up," he turned his gaze upon Loki, the sharpness returning but a glint of something within the depths shimmering through. By the time Loki had a chance to analyze it, it was gone again to be replaced with resignation. "I fear the damage done to the tapestries may not be so easy to rectify," Loki looked to the floor, more specifically to his Mother's dress as his eyes followed the folds and creases from her kneeling position.

"Ah," Mother said lightly, a sharp nod as she turned to Loki with one eyebrow raised. He could feel his face burning under her gaze, something akin to shame even as his heart rejoiced at the lack of immediate punishment and harsh voices. "Thank you, dear, I will join you shortly," Mother said, eyes still on her son's face as Father left.

Silence rang out for a few horrible seconds as Loki's tongue ached to defend his actions, as he itched to blab as fast and as easily a fountain of lies that would surely get him off the hook as he could. Father had learnt years ago to take his youngest son's words with scepticism, yet Mother seemed to still have a flicker of faith.

"Mother," he started, words feeling heavy in his mouth. He wanted to lie, he was already readying the words on his tongue when he made the mistake of looking her in the eye and faltered. "I just wanted to make Thor hush about his silly cape, he kept going on and on and on about it and I thought if I got him in trouble then Father would take it back and then he'd stop trying to make me be the frost giant and..."

Mother flinched, a dainty hand raised as his voice faltered and stopped. "The frost giant?"

Loki huffed, arms crossed angrily against his chest. "He said Father gave him the cape because he was the hero, he said that meant I had to play the baddie," Frigga tutted, her face losing the sudden hardness as her hand returned to the task of cleaning his knee. "I said I didn't want to,"

"And then?" she gave his knee a light tap, her meaning obvious.

And then Thor had given him a shove, the scrawny knee of a boy yet to grow into his body of sharp joints and thin wrists sliced with ease in the fall. Embarrassment and shame coloured his cheeks, all he could do was hum of confirmation. "Loki, my boy,"

"I didn't mean to ruin the tapestries," he interrupted boldly, voice heavy as he stared at Mother's hands. "I'm sorry," he added, only speaking again when Mother had hummed quietly acknowledging his apology. The silence hung a moment longer, before he spoke, voice embarrassing small. "Sif told me I was wicked,"

Mother's hands stopped at his small confession, the tone of his voice giving way to the hurt the remark had caused. The silence was painful, considerably worse as he considered how pathetic it sounded to be concerned with the words of Sif. Sif was always saying cruel things, most of the Warrior's Three saw him as nothing more than a nuisance for reasons even he wasn't sure of any more.

"Loki," she said finally, eyes kind and voice sweet. "If only you could see the futures I see," she had said with a mischievous grin of her own, eyes sparkling. His confusion must've been evident, as Mother placed two soft hands against his cheeks.

"The future you can see?"

A thumb ran over his cheekbone as he frowned, Mother grew more and more amused as she placed a soft kiss to his brow. "Futures," she corrected. Loki frowned harder as he studied her face for any clues to her meaning, causing her to laugh softly. "There's always a list of possibilities, Loki, it's just the choices you make along the way that define the end picture,"

"Mother," Loki muttered sternly, valiantly fighting the twitch of his lips as Mother laughed outright.

"You will understand when you are older," she stood finally, allowing him to stand before speaking again. "I think your task should be repairing the tapestries, Loki," she said finally, the humour still glinting in her eye. "It will be a tedious task with magics such as yours, will it not?"

He could remember the swell of pride in his young heart at Mother's words. "Yes Mother." He grinned sheepishly, relief and confusion bubbling away in his young mind.

* * *

His memories gave way to another and another, his mind numbed to his whitewashed surroundings if only to save himself the migraine of straining his eyes from within his overly bright prison. The artificial light seemed to glance off everything in the room, leaving him in a sort of daze that hurt his eyes. Not that he would admit any sort of weakness, even as time trickled by from days to weeks and he started to reminisce more and more.

He never expected the anger to Frigga, the woman who had kept faith in him even when he had none, who had taken every opportunity she had to protect him and make him feel an equal to Thor. The very memory left a bitter taste in his mouth, the very idea that Frigga would instil such hope in him only for it to come crashing down around his ears. Misplaced anger though it may be, it felt good to have someone to blame for the pent up frustration at his failures. He felt like an animal, caged by an inferior race like a rat only to be forgotten and left to rot for his crimes. He didn't especially care, truth be told, but only wished death would come sooner rather than later if only to release him from his memories.

Memories that weaved an illusion of a family he once had, had once believed to have.


	2. Chapter 2

He stared at her with something akin to fascination as Mother fiddled with a necklace or two, holding them up to her neck before tilting this way and that in the mirror. She was busying herself quite happily, allowing her youngest to sit and brood on the seat behind her. His legs had yet to reach the floor, toes grazing the hardwood below with every lazy swing.

He caught her eye in the reflection, made an attempt to pretend he had not been watching her hands or the way her eyes turned to gaze at her reflection with every shift.

It sounded creepy even to himself.

"Am I to guess, young man, that you are once again in trouble?" she asked easily with the air of someone mentioning the weather, eyes on his in the reflection as she kept her back to him.

"Trouble?" he asked, playing dumb and allowing the charade of pleasantries to continue.

"Yes, Loki. Hot water, difficulty, a dilemma, a spot of bother, a tribulation in an otherwise carefree day of mischief and magic," she rattled off, giving her head a little tilt with every new definition as Loki tried and failed to hide his grin.

"Father calls me cheeky, yet you're just as bad. Tell me your secrets," he narrowed his eyes for effect, overly pleased by her amusement.

She laughed loudly, a sudden laugh that was beautiful in its honesty. Mother always laughed as if she had no idea of decorum or her own stance within Asgard, it was not the titter of a Queen but the guffaw of a girl at play. He smiled at her amusement, eyes going from her gaze to her back as she finally decided on a necklace and fiddled with a clasp. He waited for the item to be passed to him before placing it around her neck, a little uncomfortable with her sharp gaze in the reflection as he peered over her shoulder. "I do believe I asked you a question, and yet I have received no answer,"

Loki stalled and pretended to have difficulty with the dainty clasp in his grasp, considering his words carefully. "Mother, you have the sight, yes?"

"Well, who's an observant little dear today," she said in a sigh, grinning at his good natured eye roll. "You have questions," Loki nodded once, avoiding her gaze once more. "Then please, my son, ask,"

"I have been dreaming of a place far from here," he paused, feeling foolish before forcing himself to continue. "My dream is full of screams and pain, in this dream I'm," he paused again, nerves getting the better of him as he considered Mother. She, if anyone, would understand. "Euphoric," he blurted.

"And this troubles you?" she asked after a heavy pause, voice quiet in the otherwise silent room.

"Well, yes," he started. "Would that not trouble you?" he paused to give Mother a look, slightly calculating as he thought. Her face told him everything he needed to know, she was worried, she also knew something. "I wondered,"

"If I had seen the same?" he nodded once, face void as she considered her words. "You must understand Loki, that the future is never something that can be read. It is not like one of your books, the story changes with every read. Chapters do not follow one another, pieces of the future," she faltered to correct herself with a tilt of the head. "Pieces of possible futures, I mean to say, come to me as and when they wish,"

"But," he frowned, slightly annoyed at the way Mother tried to evade his meaning. "You see the possibilities of the future,"

A sigh. "Loki," she muttered, suddenly quiet as she turned sad eyes to her son's reflection. "I have seen your life, your loves, your triumphs and failures from every way imaginable. Your question is neither easily answered, nor fair," she turned to him with slightly watery eyes, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. "Please, do not ask me again,"

"Wh-," he faltered, sudden worry weighing down his mind. "Mother, this is to happen, isn't it?"

She laid a hand against his wrist, comforting and calming all at once. "It is merely a possibility, my love. Do not dwell, live. For every horror, there is a joy that is equally possible," she smiled warmly down at him, relaxed now Loki seemed reassured. "And I have seen so much joy in your future,"

He smiled with a sigh, the nagging doubt still loomed in the back of his young mind but his Mother's words serving as a source of optimism. She went to speak again, before Loki grinned crookedly. "Do not worry, I will not ask again."

* * *

He blinked awake to the sound of someone outside his little prison scraping a chair backwards across the floor, ears perked up as the other sat in the room beside his. He turned his head in their general direction, scanning the wall and the convenient window with it. He was being watched, which was a change. He hadn't been visited since Thor had decided to try and play nice, which had failed so spectacularly it was heart warming.

Head still raised to stare at the darkened window, he felt the slightest touch of a smile flitter across his lips. Whoever this person was, was whispering with some urgency to a man who was trying to placate them. He recognised the voice as Fury, the infuriating little man who had believed himself something more than his pathetic station. The other voice was scared, rattled from his eyes on the window as he grinned outright into the dark booth. It had been so long since he had anyone to intimidate, it was almost a relief.

He considered calling out a greeting with the hopes of terrifying whoever it was in the booth, instead he reclined once more and tried to pick out the voices in their whispered hush. A buzz of electric in the air as something was switched on, an opening door that was quietly closed again before footsteps in the hall that slowly faded into nothing. He recognised the footsteps to be Fury, his gait efficient and yet languid as he strolled by.

He waited another minute or so before raising his head once more, eyes trained on the darkened glass to his side.

The other someone held their breath.

He stood as quickly as he could, embarrassed by the way his eyesight swam from laying down for days upon days and refusing food. He straightened as quick as possible, cuffed hands clasped before him and she marched purposefully toward the glass and peered inside. There was a light of some sort, turned away from the window but the shine visible from this distance. Eyes darting around the room, he frowned deeply and focused on where he believed the figure to be.

* * *

Darcy Lewis was 10 seconds away from peeing her pants.

Shaking hands hovering uselessly over her laptop, mouth agape and eyes wide she watched Loki as he frowned somewhere to her right. He seemed to be fighting amusement as she sat impossibly still, scared of breathing in case he zoned in on her exact location. Her mind - probably in some desperate throes of panic - threw her the helpful image of the t-rex in Jurassic Park. If she didn't move, it'd pass her by and go kill that guy on the toilet instead.

Unless, in this version she was the guy on the toilet and Loki just decided to smash his way through the glass and bite her head off while she sat there with her metaphorical pants around her ankles.

Even Darcy was confused by her current train of though.

He moved to tap one long finger against the glass in front of her, three taps that she wasn't sure what to make of. Should she tap back? Maybe it was Morse code. Did Asgard even have Morse code?

He straightened and Darcy nearly missed it entirely as her mind carried on throwing useless questions at her, until he spoke clearly to the room at large. Voice regal, as if he had a crowd hidden somewhere in the whitewashed room.

"I know you are in there," his voice, though terrifying and capable of liquidizing her where she sat, cracked in the middle from lack of use. Silence hung heavily before he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Well?"

Heart somewhere behind her left ear, Darcy finally started breathing normally - if a little erratically - as her mind whirred back to the present.

What to say, or to say anything at all, seemed like a faraway idea that merely bubbled in the back of her mind as Darcy stared at Loki and he stared back without seeing her. The main thought that even her bumbling idiot of a brain could agree on was that he had killer cheekbones.

"Hi," she squeaked uselessly, her hands that had been hovering over her keyboard dropped with an audible clack of keys. She huffed in a breath and decided to hold it, wondering stupidly if he could even hear her meek voice through reinforced glass. Her unspoken question seemed to have answered itself as he walked away, almost immediately after she squeaked out a reply.

He sat once again, legs swinging up and onto the bed before he reclined once more.

It wasn't for another five minutes before she realised what had happened, by then Loki was staring at the ceiling with glazed unseeing eyes.

Fury returned for her not half an hour later, obviously confused as to her wide eyes and shaking lips.

* * *

She knew talking to Jane was a mistake when she was so obviously panicked, but she literally had no other friends - on or off of SHIELDS flying base - so it was either talk to Jane or her own reflection.

She chose Jane and only when she started screaming at Thor did she fully regret her decision.

Jane was never a fan of being left out of the loop, especially when said loop involved not only her coffee-fetching wisecrack-making intern, but her God boyfriend Thor and his crazy ass brother. Somewhat understandably, she had hit the roof and swooped down on Darcy like a protective Mother hen.

She had dragged her through the ship to the cafeteria, searching the whole while for Thor and finding him happily munching on something sugary. His baby blues widened comically, glancing from Jane to Darcy as realisation slowly dawned.

Darcy mouthed an 'I'm sorry' from behind Jane, wondering how long this spat would last and if she could get a sugar boost herself. It was good for shock or something.

"You let her go in there with him," Jane started in a somewhat shrill voice, hands balled into fists by her side as she visibly shook. "Without telling me! On her own!" Thor stood slowly, as one would around a lion that they just happened to be sharing a cage with.

"My love, I -" Thor paused as Jane poked him roughly in the chest with one boney finger.

"Why Darcy? How is she meant to defend herself against a man who tried to kill us all in a stupid hat?" Jane paused only briefly, to which Thor wrongly understood to mean he should speak. He barely had his mouth open before Jane barrelled onwards. "Why don't you take some time out from saving the world to babysit your own damn brother!"

"I offered," Darcy squeaked for the second time that day, face turning bright red in the space of five seconds as Jane turned her gaze onto her. She wore the expression of someone who had temporarily forgotten how to speak, so Darcy quickly babbled on. "Thor was worried about him, and Fury has been getting mightily pissed with me sitting about doing nothing but data entry and sassing about his pirate patch, so I decided 'hey Darcy, you like working here, why not do the only job no one else will to secure said job AND please Blondie over here?'" she jerked a thumb at Thor who merely gave a wobbly smile.

"But -" Jane allowed her to babble over her, expression more confused than shocked and giving both Thor and Darcy hope.

"So I did, and I went and did what Fury asked and yes. Got scared, really, no surprise there. It wasn't even Thor's idea, he just sort of swooped in towards the end and thanked me a big squiffy bunch for taking up the role,"

Darcy audibly panted, shoulders slumped as she gazed from Jane to Thor. Jane seemed to be stuck with a frown on her face, gaze somewhere around Darcy's middle as Thor shifted unhappily from foot to foot. The cafeteria in general seemed to be doing that age old act of listening in complete silence while pretending to be extremely interested in their surroundings.

"Ok," Jane started, nodding to herself. Thor grinned, a bad move in the grand scheme of things but Jane was too busy gazing at Darcy's stomach like it had a complex equation on it to realise. "Ok, I get that. You should've told me before," her eyes finally met Darcy's as the other nodded meekly. "And so should've you," Thor had the brainpower to look ashamed, his gaze turned to the floor as he mumbled out an agreement. "But yeah, I understand why. Although that bit about doing nothing but sass and data entry is crap, you get coffee and stuff too," Jane paused, correcting herself. "I mean, you do lots of stuff and I really do need you here with me. For my own sanity if nothing else," she finished with a self depreciating grin.

Darcy grinned herself, nodding for no reason other than it felt like the thing to do. "So," she sighed, arms swinging back and forth by her side as she gazed around the cafeteria. "Who's hungry?"

* * *

A/N: Hallo. Just to say a quick thank you to everyone who reviewed and all that jazz, keeps up ye olde morale. So, hope you enjoyed. Had a lot of issues with trying to make this chapter flow, but I think it makes sense. I hope.


	3. Chapter 3

_A.N Another chapter, had a lot of fun with this one actually. I do enjoy writing sarcasm. Would like to thank everyone for their lovely reviews, loved reading them and it's that little nudge to update that bit faster. I would just like to mention, I am British so I may write certain things wrong. Just an FYI, as I'm not sure if it made it to America, but KerPlunk is this kooky ass game from like the 90's. I owned it, it was frustrating as hell. Google it, it's such a simple concept and yet I'm sure it's ended many a friendship. Anyway, shutting up, enjoy. _

**Chapter 3**

The next day found Darcy at Jane's Sciency Lab of Science, spinning idly in a desk chair in the far corner as Jane mumbled something or other under her breath and reorganised her piles of papers for the fifth time in as many minutes. Darcy smirked, but carried on spinning regardless.

Jane was in that zone again, the same zone that led to scientific discoveries and mess that somehow turned into 'Darcy's mess'. It was cute; dainty Jane with her flyaway hair tied up in a bun, pens jabbed into it until her head resembled that game Kerplunk. The urge to pull out a random pen was almost maddening, just to see if a marble would tumble out.

She allowed her friend/boss to continue, until finally the woman turned to her with a look of surprise. Eyes comically wide, she gave her a slightly ashamed grin. "I'm sorry Darce," she muttered, a hand scratching fussily at her arm as she gazed around the room. "Kind of forgot you were there,"

Darcy merely gave an all knowing nod of the head, eyes half closed. "Yes, I sort of realised when you started swearing," A grin. "You want help? I've got an hour before I'm back in the lions den," she swept a hand around the room in general, surveying the mess. "Might be nice to discover what colour the floor is!"

A short laugh, half tired and half embarrassed escaped Jane as she nodded. "I was meant to be talking, you know, offering my support in your new _venture,_" Jane merely shook her head as Darcy quirked an eyebrow, lip curled as she played dumb. "The lions den," A short pause. "I should be trying to support you, calm any nerves, sooth any worries. You know, friend stuff,"

Jane could be fucking adorable sometimes, almost painfully so. She struck Darcy as the kind of kid who never really paid attention to people around her, to emotions and feelings. She couldn't really picture a baby Jane without merely shrinking 'Science Jane' and putting a bow on her head, still the same look of immense concentration, the same studious attitude and inability to sleep until she made some epic discovery. Maybe she never had friends, not real friends that cared for such things as feelings and supporting each other.

It made her feel strangely hollow just thinking about it.

"What if we compromise?" she stooped to pick up a file by Jane's feet, straightening with as much grace as she could muster. "We talk, we tidy. I believe people in the biz call it 'multitasking'. I mean, I think they're full of crap but worth a go, right?" Another laugh as Jane started to pick up the clutter around her feet, giving the odd piece of paper a look before stuffing it all in a file.

They cleared a path around the room haphazardly, both in their own thoughts as the room slowly cleared. Sometime around clearing away coffee cups, Jane appeared by her side and leant gingerly on the desk to her right. Darcy chanced a glance to her side, watching Jane as she fiddled with a frayed edge of her shift in obvious discomfort. She automatically stopped her tidying, mugs she had seen two weeks ago clasped to her chest as she tried to soundlessly clear her throat.

"He spoke to me last time, nothing major, don't worry. It was just, scary, you know?" Darcy muttered before glancing back to Jane. Saving both of them the awkwardness of Jane trying to say something supportive, yet she had landed herself in the tricky predicament of exposing her own fears. Loki had spoke, had commanded a reply with nothing more than a word and a haughty look on his face and Darcy had nearly fainted. Could she really do this, day after day, week after how many weeks it took for Asgard to decide that Loki had sat on the naughty step for long enough? A white washed room with glaring lights, his own personal limbo until his parents were ready to collect him.

Jane was fidgeting again, her eyes determined and yet somewhere deep down she was angry. Darcy could tell, she was a pro at facial expressions when it came to her boss. Anger was deffo there, the small glint of something that could either be anger at the situation or anger at her.

"You don't, I mean," she huffed, arms flopping across her chest lazily. "Do not do this to stay, ok? You don't need to prove anything to me, to them, to anyone! If you are doing this to prove to us that you are more than assumed, I will go to Fury right now and get you working with me full time. Just a word, anything. Okay?"

Darcy stood stock still, a little shocked by her friend. The sudden anger, which thankfully was not directed at her. She could feel her mouth moving uselessly, their gaze breaking momentarily as she turned to stare at the cluttered floor.

"You don't need to prove anything, do you understand?" Jane spoke again, voice softer. "You do not need to prove you're more than my intern to the Avengers, you do not need to prove yourself to me or Thor or anyone. You are needed here, for my sanity at least," she ended with a heavy sigh, room deadly silent as Darcy tried to find the right words to say and Jane blushed furiously at the far wall.

Awkward.

How do you say your inner most insecurities without sounding like a self absorbed dick? How do you say 'I feel sort of damn pointless around here' without being one of those idiots that fish for compliments? Was there even a way to say anything personal without being self absorbed? She had learnt, through years and goddamn years of trial and error that telling people how you felt usually led to scorn or said person playing psychiatrist and getting it all wrong. Where to start was the real problem.

So, Darcy settled quite happily on a lie.

"I'm doing this for a career," She stared at Jane with determination, lie formed and mind set. "I do want to prove I'm not just an intern, you know. I'm after the big bucks and without science behind me, I have to advance somewhere, right?"

Jane carried on their staring competition, the level of awkward simmering somewhere around horrible. The staring had just reached questionably intense when Jane looked away briefly, the look of concentration gone to be replaced by a small smile. "Okay," she muttered, both relaxing slightly. "That I can completely understand," she nodded, a bony elbow gave her a little jab in the upper arm as Jane just carried on giving her that strange little smile. "A career is something I can get behind, being a God minder may be an unorthodox method but whatever floats your boat!"

"Wow, God Minder sounds like one funny as fuck reality show."

With Jane's little pep talk well and truly over, Darcy strode as lazily as she could manage down into the lower levels of SHIELD with her laptop tucked against her side. Crumpled papers a la boss lady in the other hand, she shouldered open the door and tried to - as stealthily as possible - put it all down in some sort of order on her temporary little desk. The room, dim as it was, wasn't ideal but she was proud to say she only spilled the papers all over her chair. Laptop safe, it was a victory in her mind. His Royal Craziness had merely flinched as she sat, staring at the ceiling with a glare that made him look even sharper than usual. She was happy enough to leave him to it, opening her laptop and starting on some of Jane's note from the day before.

She had sat and worked for maybe 10 minutes before Loki stood once more, brow creased and a look of absolute fury in his eyes. He strode to the glass, arms tense and stuck to his side with a stiffness to his gait that told Darcy she was fucked.

She sat completely still, typing all but forgotten as she sucked in a breath. She waited quietly for him to throw a tantrum, demand she be quiet or maybe even sing him a little song but he simply stared at his own reflection. The door to his room opening had her half out of her chair before she realised Fury's figure with it's scary as hell 'I will fuck you up' demeanour, hands tucked in his pockets and steps slow. Ass half off her chair, it squeaked painfully against the floor as she repositioned and breathed out.

Loki's gaze met hers in the one way glass, top lip twitching in something akin to amusement.

He had not turned to Fury's entrance, had not even flinched as the Director strode easily in and the door clicked shut behind him. The two stood in silence until Darcy felt uncomfortable just watching the exchange, worrying her bottom lip until Fury cracked a grin.

"Well, aren't we a happy bunny?" Loki still did not turn around, even if the muscle in his jaw twitched a little. "How you liking your new room? A bit sparse, I know, but at least you have walls now," Fury smirked, glanced around the room with fake cheer and took another step toward the crazy God.

Loki turned slowly, a serene mask in place. He even bowed his head a little, acknowledging the Director's quip with good humour. "Principle Angry, always a pleasure,"

Fury, surprisingly, didn't realise the joke. "Director Fury, if you would," said Director carried on glaring for a moment, for some reason expecting the God to acknowledge his 'mistake'. After it became painfully obvious that there would be nothing of the sort, he huffed with a shake of his head. "A month on Earth, slumming it, I believe it's time for another little chat,"

"Oh good," Loki muttered, before gesturing over his shoulder to the tiny booth that Darcy sat quietly within. "Is this going to be an appropriate little chat for the ears of a lady?" he asked breezily, even without a clear line of sight she could tell he was smirking. Fury hardly showed any shock, nothing more than a raise of one eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"I'm sure she won't mind,"

Loki nodded his understanding, apparently in a game mood now that he had something to play with. "Must be frightfully boring for the girl, does she even have something to read?"

Fury ignored him, clearing his throat as he gave the God a glare. "I am obligated to ask you for your support and cooperation with the oncoming attack against Earth," he stated flatly, voice void of any emotion, never mind hope.

"Rehearsed that, did you?"

Fury ignored his quip. "This threat to Earth is because of your actions, a little help now you're stranded with us would seem real logical right about now," Fury cracked a sarcastic little grin. "No?"

"Logical, perhaps," A nod of the head. "It's just not probable. If I am to eke out the remainder of my days on this droll little planet, the sooner it ends the better," Fury didn't look surprised in the least, merely shrugging his shoulders in an 'I tried' sort of way. "Now that your 'obligation' is out of the way, tell me, does my watcher have a name?"

Darcy frowned, completely lost in the fast paced conversation she was watching in on and a little spooked at his interest. Maybe he just wanted to scare her off, show her a flash of teeth and watch her tear down the hallway. Fury seemed to be sharing the same thoughts as he spared her booth a little glance, forehead creased in what she hoped was worry and not merely a scheme bubbling away in his bald little head.

"Why?"

So, a scheme it was. Grand.

"Merely curiosity," he shrugged one shoulder lazily as he turned to her booth again. "It's almost company, the good kind where no one speaks,"

Fury smirked, cocky bitch. "That's kind of the opposite of company,"

"It's preferable to Thor, so, a name?" The two stood in silence, one smug and the other calculating. She felt like a pawn, unwilling to play and yet pushed merrily around a board. When she really thought about it, there was no greater explanation for Darcy Lewis than 'Avengers pawn'. A step up from the office monkey, but still.

"I believe that information is not mine to give," Fury stated evenly, Loki scoffed and all of a sudden Fury was heading towards the door. Obviously, heir little chat was officially over. "See you next week, then,"

"Counting down the seconds until you return, I assure you," Loki literally sang, spirits obviously high now that he had managed to piss someone off. Fury didn't respond, choosing to leave the God with the last remark. The look of glee was almost sickening, it was still present when he turned that sharp gaze straight back to her. "I can only apologise for his manners, or lack thereof,"

She didn't speak, instead she stared at him wide eyed with her mouth agape. Dear Lord, here was something strangely alluring to that smile. A mixture of danger and innocence, teeth displayed in a pantomime of suave charm. Darcy fidgeted uneasily and mentally chastised herself, her thoughts travelling so far from the point it would take a 12 hour flight to return.

Said alluring smile was fading fast, obviously displeased by her silence to his witticisms. Maybe he was expecting a girlish titter, maybe he could truly see her and wasn't just trying to freak her out... Although he was definitely doing that too.

His face - moments ago the picture of amusement - had turned stony and expressionless in the blink of an eye, his stance straighter even as his gaze turned bored. He returned to the bed once more, continuing his staring competition with the ceiling as if Fury had never visited.

She was not surprised when Fury stood patiently by the lift, leant against the wall while still maintaining his busy guy persona. Darcy walked toward him, buzzing the elevator as she pretended to have no care in the world.

"What's up, Captain?"

He gave her a look she was fast getting used to, a look that screamed 'one is not amused' before he stood beside her. "Loki,"

"Well obviously," she muttered, he chose to ignore her.

"I have a proposal,"

"I _knew_ you fancied me,"

"Lewis," he chided, clearing he wasn't in the best of moods after the God of Mockery. She tried to look sorry, failed miserably when her lip twitched and decided to look away. "He seems interested in you, that's not good," Darcy nodded a hell yes. "I think it's best if we put another agent in your place,"

"What?"

"Someone with training, who won't become flustered in his presence and can see a trap coming," A pause. "He is a God, after all,"

"Gee, thanks a lot. You know how to make a girl feel special,"

The Director gave her a roll of the eye, both stepping into the elevator as it finally arrive. "You know what I mean. He wants to play games and we're not talking Monopoly,"

"Shame, I kick_ ass_ at Monopoly,"

"I'm sure you do."

The two fell silent as the lift ascended, Darcy trapped in her thoughts and Fury thankfully allowed her the time to think. She had wanted to secure her job, to prove to everyone that she wasn't there just to fetch the coffee and make a wisecrack every other minute. If she did agree, was relieved off her babysitting duties and passed the job onto someone more qualified, where would that leave her? Back to Jane's lackey, with the coffee and zero responsibility. With the other hotshots ignoring her, with the constant fear that she would be kicked out of SHIELD with her mind erased and $50 in her pocket.

Did she want that?

"No,"

"Say what now?" Fury asked to her side, confusion evident as Darcy turned to stare up at him with grim determination. No, she didn't want to go back to filling her days with filling page after endless page of scribbles, to deciphering Jane's handwriting until her sight blurred onto to earn close to sweet fuck all.

"Train me, how hard can it be?" Fury didn't reply, she took that to be a bad sign. "Come on Director Fury, please? I want to do this, all I have to do is sit in a room and report back on any Godly tantrums that may occur. Just sit down and shut up, how hard is that?"

He cracked a small smile before shaking his head. "For you? Near impossible," he carried on, ignoring the bland 'ha' to his side. "A trial then, that's not a yes, just so we're clear. I want to be completely updated after every visit, you got that? If he so much as coughs, I want to know,"

"Sure dude, whatever you say." Darcy grinned with a little salute as she stepped off the elevator and walked back to her cubicle, even as her stomach did a unhappy lurch.


	4. Chapter 4

_A.N Hey guys, this took a while as I've had a complete and utter shit storm at work that has resulted in a total of hours overtime. By the time I got home, I couldn't be bothered to eat, let alone write. I hope this is up to scratch, my brain thinks so but it's been under a truckload of stress for the past few weeks. Also, if anyone spots any spelling mistakes can you please let me know. I think I've done something to my keyboard, I have to really hammer on both p and l to make them work. Oh well. _

**Chapter 4**

"Family?" Fury asked, hands linked across the table between them with faux ease

"A mom, a dad, the usual,"

"The usual?"

"Well, no, but as usual as you could hope for with a kid like me"

* * *

She entered the viewing room with quiet steps, head pounding and mood swiftly nose diving as she plopped down unhappily in her chair. She had just sat through a 2 hour interrogation from none other than Fury, a man who could indeed get blood from a stone, while her stomach cramped horribly and her brain turned to mush. He had made it sound like a scary ass game at first, she was to answer without answering. Reply whilst at the same time keeping all valuable information to herself, something which she was sure had gone tits up the second she had opened her mouth.

She had tried as hard as she could, but in the end, Fury had still given her the trademark 'this isn't good enough' look before allowing her to return to Loki's cell.

She had briefly felt like crying. Briefly.

Loki merely raised his head at her entrance, eyes keen and lips thinned into a closed mouth grin before he allowed his head to hit the flat cushion below once more. Long, thin fingers linked together across his chest as he shifted a little to get comfortable. Green eyes, dimmed under the bright lights of the room, glanced her way with a twist of a grin.

"Bad day?" Darcy said nothing, teeth firmly ground together to stop the comment on the tip of her tongue. Loki seemed to figure her out without any input from her anyway, sighing theatrically at the ceiling. She snorted lightly, chin tilted downwards and the urge to cross her arms defensively almost overwhelming. One sharp eyebrow lifted at the noise, too soft for human ears but the God of Sass seemed to hear her loud and clear. "Temper temper," he sang mildly, ears obviously perked to hear the next little noise from the booth.

Thankfully, Darcy bit her tongue until her eyes watered and remained silent.

The look of mild annoyance was almost worth the stinging in her mouth as his smug little smirk slowly but surely fell into a stony look of boredom. The room fell into its usual silence as Darcy busied herself reorganising her work and beginning to type, mind buzzing with every little pointer Fury had thrown her way until her heart rate calmed once more.

She just needed to pretend he wasn't there. She was, after all, just helping to ease Thor conscience

She began her work, tilting her notes into the laptops feeble light as a few of those squiggly lines that Jane liked to call 'notes' became indecipherable in the dim. Eyes slightly strained, she tried to type as quietly as possible and just get through the half hour. Mind calming with the tedium of her work, Darcy allowed herself to relax into a near trance of keyboard clicks and data entry.

Then she heard it.

A thrashing in the room adjacent caught her eye, hand automatically flying to the walkie talkie - hidden under mountains of paper - by her side as panic set in. Barely enough time to process what she was seeing, her mouth on autopilot as she yelped for help.

* * *

Halfway between sleep and awake, the overly bright room faded from his vision to be replaced by something more soothing. The room remained the same, merely the tones dimmed slightly around the edges. Something more familiar and yet more alien all at once, a scent flooding his senses and bringing an odd sensation to the pit of his stomach; an ache and a feeling of comfort all at once, like being thrown back in time with nothing more than a faint aroma of the past.

"I have but a moment," A voice said soothingly to his side, a voice that made his eyes sting as he closed his mouth tightly to bite at his lower lip. "Come along dear, I know you're awake," the voice said again, gentle chastisement evident with the forever present hint of amusement. Loki opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling as the all too familiar feeling of shame washed over him.

"Frigga," he murmured, voice void of emotion.

He hadn't expected the hand that struck the side of his head, nor had he expected the sharp frown as the Queen bent over him to glare in her frustration.

"I am your Mother and you're not too old to go across my knee, remember that," she glared a moment longer until Loki was quite sure she was being completely serious, eyes wide as he stared up at her with one side of his hair sticking up foolishly. His expression could not have said disbelief any clearer, staring up at the woman who had been his Mother and who took offense not to his stint as Emperor of Evil but to him denouncing her title of parent.

Wisely, he stayed silent as she straightened her skirts and took a steadying breath beside him. Hands folded before her, Frigga gave him a warm smile that seemed alien after her anger of a moment ago.

"You've yet to help yourself, I see," she said, amused and annoyed all at once with a glance around his 'room'. Loki frowned, in no mood to try and guess her next move. "That won't do at all now, will it?"

"Do not speak in riddles," he nearly growled, only for his eyes to widen a moment after as his cheeks became hot. Even now, with his mind a twisted ruin of venom and anger, he felt shame as Frigga left her passive gaze on his a moment too long. "Mother," he added, voice soft.

"Shame," she sighed wistfully, eyes unfocused as a smile ghosted across her lips. "I used to enjoy our little cryptic conversations," Once again, shame sat heavily in the room. Instead of waiting for Loki to form a reply, Frigga sat on the edge of his bed with as much grace as a Queen upon a throne (even if said throne was scratchy grey blankets and a mattress that could serve as a plank of wood). Her sharp gaze unnerving, he chose to stare at her hands as they came to rest in her lap.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked, voice rough and eyes unfocused. It took her a moment to reply, obviously thinking over her answer to her liking.

"Do you plan to stay here? In this room, to let your bitterness and anger fester for all to see?" No answer. "I did not bring you up to be a sulky little prince, caged by Midgardians and swimming in his own hate. You have a fantastic opportunity, Loki,"

"Had," he corrected automatically, eyes unfocused as he looked through her.

_"Have,"_ he frowned, catching her gaze and unfortunately unable to break it as he studied the mischievous twinkle.

"I thought you would speak plainly with me for once, I am not in a gaming mood,"

"Humour me,"

He sighed but played along, giving himself a moment to think before responding. "You wish me to join the Midgardians and their gaggle of heroes?"

Frigga merely shrugged, smirk just itching to break free. "I wasn't suggesting it, but a hobby may do you good," he rolled his eyes half-heartedly. "I was thinking more for your own wellbeing, in here," she tapped his head softly, just between the eyebrows so light he wasn't sure she had made contact at all. "There is a reason for you to be here and it does not involve your b-" Frigga gave pause, for the first time since suddenly arriving in the room she looked unsure. "Does not involve Thor,"

"I'm lost," he stated simply, ignoring the anger that flared into life so suddenly it shocked him at the mention of Thor.

Frigga finally released the grin that had been edging onto her face for the past few minutes. She leant forward, lips touching his cheek before she straightened once more. "I thought by now you would have gathered, there is always a reason," Loki did not reply, instead frowning at her in confusion. With a theatrical sigh, she continued. "Then let me give you a little push in the right direction,"

And quite suddenly the room went black, luckily the weight had left his bed before he felt himself roll quickly off and onto the floor with a thud. Something was shuffling, he could hear the constant scrape of something as his eyes refused to adjust to the darkness. He could hear the unknown girl in the adjacent room scurry out of the door and start screaming to someone he could not hear, a door and hesitant footsteps that settled somewhere beside his head.

He tried to shout her away, only to realise his mouth would not open no matter how hard he tried. Even making a noise was proving difficult, throat unwilling to cooperate in his confusion. His teeth were clenched together, the ache already painful from the strain as he finally realised the reason for the darkness.

His eyes were tightly closed, face scrunched up as his body seemed to be experiencing its own little tremors. A hand was against his shoulder, pushing and shoving in an attempt to get him onto his side. He tried again to growl a warning with no luck, experiencing nothing but a numbness in his limbs that tingled like familiar magic.

Frigga.

Mentally, he rolled his eyes. Physically, he was rolled onto his side. The tremors began to die down as the floor vibrated with approaching footsteps, the woman rubbing his arm in what she obviously hoped was a soothing gesture and merely served as an irritation as his skin chafed. She was muttering something, under her breath and slightly hysterical. The moment he tried to focus on her hysterics, Thor's voice boomed somewhere to his side.

"Loki!" More footsteps, this time dangerously close to his head. "Lady Darcy, please explain!"

The girl - Lady Darcy - spluttered for a few moments, voice high and breathing panicked as she tried to organize her thoughts. "One minute he was just having a snooze and the next he's wigging out all over the floor kicking and flopping about," A shaky breath. "I dunno dude he just sort of threw himself down!"

The tremors had all but stopped, save for a few jolts that still coursed through his body once in a while as his body finally relaxed. His limbs, still tingling, jerked in a very undignified manner as he tried desperately to open his eyes. Managing nothing more than a slit, he glared angrily around the room for Frigga.

She was nowhere to be seen, not that he was surprised.

Thor had one beefy hand between his shoulder blades, the oafs attempt at being gentle still weighing heavily upon his back. The hand patted, a little unsure of itself and what he should do next before the stupid chit kneeling by his head started to speak once more. Her voice, high with panic but with a husky tone lying beneath.

"Where are the guys with the drugs? Shouldn't they be here by now, I think he should be drugged. Let's go get him some drugs," A shuffle of movement, before the hand that had sat lightly on his arm left. He attempted to lift his head an inch off the ground and only managed a grunt of effort, a glare in place that was only slightly weaker than his usual as he stared at the far wall. The annoying chit froze, hands suspending comically as if he would attack her at any moment.

He might've if he could feel his hands.

"Yo, greenie, you ok?" the woman asked, edgy yet flippant. Two of the words traits to possess around a God such as he, a God who was labelled crazy five times before sunrise and locked away in a room 24 hours a day. "Did you swallow your tongue?" she spoke again, voice a little more cocky as she realised that her target was more or less immobilized.

"Darcy," Thor murmured in warning, obviously more aware of Loki and his ways. It really said a lot about this girl, when Thor was the voice of reason, the man who usually went to war because he had nothing better to do.

"What?" Oblivious voice was very much fake, yet he could tell just by her tone of voice that she had been perfecting it for a number of years; that little edge of mockery that sat behind a wall of innocence, a good lie to anyone but Loki. "It could happen, my Aunt used to have fits and you had to arrange her just so -"

The chatty little idiot grabbed his arm, yet again manipulating him like some sort of marionette designed merely for her amusement.

And just like that, Frigga had decided he had had enough of playing invalid for one day. The feeling in his limbs returned, his hands tingled back into life as if he had just sat on them for an age. With a silent thank you sent skyward, Loki jerked away from the hands that were still resting upon him. The two other occupants jerked away, one with blatant fear and the other merely in surprise.

He growled, low, as his own personal warning before he even bothered to speak. "Out," he muttered, still facing away from his two visitors. Still in a misshapen ball with an ache in his jaw that told him his muscles were not appreciating his grimace, a grimace only the wall could presently see.

"Dude, we need to get a doc in," Darcy whispered, obviously to Thor and completely ignoring the warning in his tone. She was already settling behind him after the shock of his movements, Thor hunched silently by her side as they observed him like some sort of feral creature.

"I said out!" he spun around, eager to strike out at whoever he saw first. Instead, he merely ended up shoving the mortal forcefully away with his forearm hitting her roughly in the chest. She landed on her back with force, an 'oof' of air escaping her lungs as his anger sang through his veins anew. He listened to her desperate gasp for air, obviously winded, without a sliver of remorse.

"Loki!" Thor shouted, still knelt and now trying to calm the child as she gasped and panicked.

Could they really not understand such a simple command, one word really had them stumped? "Are you deaf as well as brainless? Leave, now! Get out!" he roared, voice breaking with the effort after so long within his little prison. His prison where the only time he spoke it was with determined calm, an air of superiority and a complete lack of interest.

Thor stood so fast it looked almost painful, respectfully taking a step back and away from his brother. A hand was raised, in surrender or warning Loki was not sure, as he made to walk slowly out of the room. The child, Darcy, was still on her back with an arm raised as if expecting a blow. Eyes wide and glassy, she stared at him with complete fear in her eyes.

It was so close to ecstasy he was almost ashamed, the idea that a great and powerful God such as he would be reduced to any form of excitement over a child like this.

"Lady Darcy, come along now," Thor stated calmly, his voice measured as Darcy jumped at the sound. She broke the fearful gaze to stare upward at the blond, still making no move to stand and instead turned her gaze to the hand offered to her. A beat passed before she accepted it, stood and almost ran from the room with a hand still clasping her chest.

Thor gave him a final look, almost void of emotion but for the glint of sadness that seemed ever present with the buffoon nowadays. Maybe living with these little mortals wasn't so good for the fool, if that's what they did to him.

* * *

From the way Director Fury and Jane were looking at her, Darcy could just tell she was going to get both shouted at and babied. She hoped Fury wouldn't join in on the latter, she simply could not take it if he suddenly started rubbing her arm and speaking all soothing and shit.

Thankfully it was Jane that cracked first, an arm coming around Darcy's shoulders that ended in a near chokehold against her boss' chest. If she was any more coherent right now, she might've made a crude joke. Instead, she felt slightly ashamed and like a giant baby being coddled by Auntie Janey, her pride so nonexistent she allowed the comfort to continue.

"You're not going back there," It wasn't a question.

"No," Darcy agreed with a shake of the head, unfortunately given her current position that resulted in being more of a nose-to-boob bump that left her blushing horribly. Oh dear.

"Miss Lewis," Fury spoke, thankfully without any hint of comfort and in the same 'let's get shit done' voice he always used. "You were under strict orders to never enter the holding cell,"

"I know," she muttered.

"It's not like we make this shit up, y'know, we've got a loony God in there. What were you even thinking?"

"He was having a fit,"

"How did you know that? God of Lies, Darcy,"

"I know,"

"You really think Loki is above crying wolf before he snaps your neck clean in two?" Darcy visibly flinched, unable to answer before Fury barrelled onwards in the same business like voice. "You are incredibly lucky to be sitting here right now,"

_"I know,"_

"Never mind a shove, he could have killed you with a flick of the wrist!"

"She knows!" Jane interrupted boldly, arm around her friend instinctively tightening to almost painful levels. "Director Fury, with all due respect, I think we can all agree that she did a stupid thing. I think Darcy agrees she did a stupid thing," Another nose to boob moment for Darcy as she nodded immediately, she really couldn't bring herself to meet the Director head on so allowed Jane to ride out her motherly instinct. "So we can all agree, a stupid thing happened today. Now, I'm sure you will want her taken off God duty as of now,"

"Yes," Fury muttered, voice heavy with a 'no duh' that was really itching to be said.

"Then we all agree," A sharp nod from her boss before she was pushing Darcy gently away from her, giving her chest a quick glance. "How you feeling?" Obviously referencing the winding of but moments ago.

"Okay," Darcy gave a little shrug, one shoulder almost smacking her in the ear. "Only thing damaged being my pride," A beat as she realised her mistake, turned swiftly to the Director and added robotically "Which I am extremely lucky for, given the circumstances," Fury looked appeased, more at ease than a moment ago at her obvious stab at humour... if a little exasperated before he waved her away.

"Well, off you go and play then." Fury muttered, obviously too tired to argue any further.

She saluted, just to be cheeky.


End file.
